“This Is the Future, and We’re Gonna Nuke that Cancer from Orbit” (And Other Encouraging Words)

Elizabeth Nelson

By Elizabeth Nelson

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Reddit user sezzme has been fighting breast cancer for a few years and has survived it twice. But now she’s got it again, and each PET scan looks worse than the last. The last scan showed that her cancer had spread to her liver and multiplied into several tumors. As her anxiety over what the next PET scan would show increased, she found that working on a creative project was getting more and more difficult due to her overwhelming feelings of fear.

So sezzme reached out to her fellow Redditors for some encouragement. And we think what they had to say might be inspirational for a lot more than just this one person, so we decided to share it with you.

Here’s a simple list of 10 things Redditors said to keep this wonderful human being’s spirits up while she battled cancer. We hope it helps you too.

NOTE: Some comments have been edited for length, grammar, or profanity.

10. Keep being you.

“Just don’t let the pain take over your personality, who you are; that’s when cancer wins.” —Reddit user periaut

9. Know that you are not alone.

“There is a whole army of other Redditors around you, and we (or most of us) that see this will hope for you the best. You also have offline friends and family, so that while you go through this tough time, just remember that there are people that care about you. We may not know you offline, but we do know that you are out there, and it is a true shame to see you going through this.” —Reddit user [deleted]

8. Good vibes.

7. Science!

“I’m going remind you that you live in the 21st century, and we live in an age of [expletive] scientific wonders and medical miracles. You have a better chance of beating this cancer than any other time in history. You’re depressed that your last PET scan found tumors had spread to your liver? Don’t be! You’re alive because we live in a time when we can look inside you with a quantum physics magic ball and see where the cancer is. 30 years ago the doctors would have had no idea the cancer was in your liver, and you’d already be dead or dying from that. This is the future, and we’re gonna nuke that cancer from orbit.” —Reddit user browwiw

6. Cheesy but true.

“You CANNOT give up on yourself. You can and will get through this if you fight the entire way. It may sound cheesy, but you must fight! Teeth bared, claws out, eyes ablaze, like a tiger poised to strike. You may have cancer, but the cancer doesn’t have you.” —Reddit user BreathlessFlame

Elizabeth Nelson is a wordsmith, an alumna of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, a four-leaf-clover finder, and a grammar connoisseur. She has lived in west Michigan since age four but loves to travel to new (and old) places. In her free time, she. . . wait, what’s free time?